She was still something to behold. Her neck was long and swan like her
hair as dark as ebony, and though she was slender and graceful, a man
could g~t lost for hours in her voluptuous breasts. Her skin was ivory
and flawless, her lips red, her face lovely. Jamie knew she'd had her
mind set on tormenting him for some time. He usually enjoyed her company
because she was such a brazen piece of baggage. He'd seen her break half
a dozen hearts before she'd deter67 mined to stomp on his, but he'd
always managed to hold his distance from her. To take care that he never
spoke a word that sounded like commitment.
He hadn't been able to refuse her constant seduction. He hadn't been her
first lover, and he was sure that he wouldn't be her last.
She was especially seductive this evening, her ink-dark hair caught to
one side of her head and plunging in a black cascade over one shoulder,
her bodice so low-cut as to reveal the endless depths of the valley
between her breasts, her kelly-green gown contrasting beautifully with
the darkness of her hair and the perfect ivory of her complexion.
'Jamie, darling'! Well, you have saved the first dance for me. I've
missed you so!'
In full view of the company she slipped her arms around him, rose on
tiptoe and kissed his lips.
He waited for something to stir inside him. He swore inwardly. It was
Tess.
He was obsessed, and any other touch would leave him cold until he had
quenched that newfound fire. 'Eliza, nice to see you,' he murmured,
catching her arms and unwinding them from around him. She pouted
prettily, but he barely noticed. He was looking past her, toward the
dance floor where Tess smiled and laughed, swirled and dipped and
whirled in his best friend's arms.
They were striking together, the tall half-breed and the exquisite blond
who looked so delicate but had a will of pure steel. 'Dance, yes!' he
muttered, and he swept Eliza into his arms and onto the floor.
'I was afraid that you hadn't missed me!' she told him, her eyes growing
dark.
'What? Of course I missed you,' he said.
'You didn't come to see me last night.'
'No, I had reports to fill out.'
'I waited for you. Very late. Into the night.'
'I'm sorry.'
I'll wait again.'
It was promising. Maybe he could close his eyes and imagine that he held
Tess's sun-honey blond hess
No. It wouldn't be fair.
He smiled.
'Eliza, I brought Miss. Stuart to the dance.'
'Miss. Stuart?
Oh, yes! I heard about her! The zany woman who thinks white men are
Comanche.' She shuddered.
'Honestly, Jamie, I understand how you might feel responsible, but just
walk her home and then come on over.'
'Can't, Eliza. Not tonight.'
